Metrolink in $135K settlement with ex-spokeswoman

LOS ANGELES 
The Southern California regional rail authority that runs Metrolink commuter trains has agreed to pay $135,500 to a former spokeswoman who resigned after announcing the probable cause of a crash that killed 25 people.

The settlement, obtained Tuesday by the Los Angeles Times, bars Denise Tyrrell from disclosing confidential Metrolink information or making any statements disparaging or discrediting the agency, its employees or board members.

Tyrrell and Metrolink spokesman Francisco Oaxaca said a settlement was reached but declined to elaborate.

In the hours after a Metrolink train collided with a freight train in the San Fernando Valley last September, Tyrrell told reporters the commuter train's engineer ran a red light. She resigned after being criticized by some on the railroad's board that her announcement was premature.

Federal investigators have since said the engineer ran the light and was text messaging 22 seconds before the crash.

Tyrrell was recently hired as the Southern California representative for the California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates Metrolink and other railroads and transit agencies. The settlement notes Tyrrell, who acts as a spokeswoman for the commission, may be required to comment on Metrolink in that capacity.